Bottle-cap-assembling machine.



J. PQRRBSTER. BOTTLE GAP MSRMBLLNG MACHI AFPLIU 'frl ill 11) JUE E 20, NH.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915,

l SHEETS4SHBBT l.

WITNESSES J. C. FORRESTBR.

BTTTLB GAP ASSEMBMNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZO, 1913.

Patented Mar. 9. 191.5.

4 SHEETS- SHEET 3.

WIT/1158858 Jannes' C:

TTRNY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. FR-BESTER, F NEW YORK. N. Y`

BOTTLE-CAP-ASSEMBING MACHLNE.

Appicsiien filed June f, 1913.

To all whom it may mance/rn Be it known that I, J AMES C. Fmmia'rm. ai citizen. of the llnitcd of America, :uni residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have. iw Vented new and useful Improve-ments in otLlQ-ap-Asesembling Machines., of which the following is a. speci*lisationA The general objects of my invention am t0 accomplish in i single machines the @wir matic asseinbhige of the. completi? butti@ These bottle mips, as well known in the usually consist of a metallic shell mi' l itin" as it uimed within wnifeli :i sealing ishi i'ixdinarily known the cork is secan-ed by a suitable adhesive.

My invention miitemplates the feeding of the tins.. the supplying of :anlhesive and ifni'lts, :ind the iwiiniinrn nssmniilage @it tlf izmls in tht; .Us :ill bj 17min-ii tic means; and it ifs im if lw Lg/fi 'el nhivtits @if the inwin- "n 2,0 Mfcnrn ihi intim itin asselmiil n ut' this Gap@ in :i mimi, iihnri. und mind muy ucr.

ln the cari'ying out of my inwntion i propose to feed they tins to the lavica which brings the parts nl the cap tugvthtfi in im munnnt relatimi, theasse1nbling clcvice it calld, by means of :in entllfss wm'eysr which if: operated cnntimioufsly @mtl so Serves to iaml the` tim-1 to thc assembling; lawine niet nefast als that devine Capable Ofi opratinfg. As thvf aflhoiw *,fhi 'h i@ uedusaly mi plbjicil has if) ht: limitati iifefivzfe .it hewnwf: smt'tewul :mit 1li/icky. my invention cox-mmv platos the making: if this cnnwyez' il pair of Chains Stimmt apart to ffzwr im .ii'ialning tliumlnitn'eexi and having :i lmi'nni' tn di @hangs iii) 'tl'irmigh opening to "the'gfftii huist th@ tins mi thefii way to tlm n "mllingg (levies.

Thi` iiShlQ :ulhwife muy im piaced in thv, iure they :im hinted, while. they uw intiid or aftvi they are huatmi :nhl iii niiet-tion i sim'inl ligature of the puff, ont in depositing the A hisiw in the tins while they are at :i pini., reznnvml funn the minveyei' :xml in thvn plucing these tins :is fast as they uw charged with the zulhesive upon the continuously running cunvoyer hy means 0i :in inteiinit tently operating pusher. This pusher is operated at :l rate of .feed substantially equivalent to thewvorking capacity if the assembling im ine. :mil hy niimziting thev conu veyer at. a higher rate of 'feed than thinv the Specicatiun of Lenten. aent.

m mmhimted and .teil up to the assvnihling den@ :it a riglativffly rapid rate hut mx'ingv.' tf the timing #i t* @i pusher in rwpwt if) th@ nl hling i; ver more than the inwind ill be fed. Th@ iiivtlixii'n: miemplates thi: mitunzitic Supp Ang; i' tins L0 be tawn this con l united, fm' this piupnse is ziiixiiiary Conl fwsztlgni the invention 2U?, lff iwmnvers nt an 1 fi i'. t man mira di. asin the .,.iigil;,ing wenn. intermediate station hiftwmrn the twn cwiix'isei :ind utilizing thel intoi'n'xittcnt pmhm :i means for ti,siiir-,e1i:ig thetins fiuin the aimilim'y 'conveyer to th@A adhesive supplying inans and the iins in advance, from lmnentli. the adhmiw snmiigiii mefing mit mit.) the main i iunwtyer.

imthwf i fi. ention nannies {mir-mii of tif* huit fiom this mitin ili'ivl.

the 11min wnwjyci :xml the puslicei: from the ww'. mutt inni the imhesive supplying 1 auxiimi' convey@ ifoin the pfiwil Shiii, -ffitixrf's: uit' thx iiii'tntion il :i iticiitifm prin-innig. Ilh@ siiwixxipiiiiying; illumini-.gie ilimtiiite a prud imi afnihfnliment ul" the in'veiitifm but I Ww hi "mw it =11`i l0i-x-tuud that thv iiiiisntinn i V wiitihlv mi man; chunmf anni muiiiicat. ns;. U

Figure l. is :i giu: wail. irhm vivia* of u, up smi-niling nmclmfi.--M'uf'tofl in mini/l mim- A'ith and mxilmzlj. ing; the inmistiwn tain 0i the in: its living limiten zinnig. F in' :i lnngitmlinzil mentifnml x'iw in; aiaicitinlly nn the line "Z ai Ui! Fig. l. l ig 2%., :i @uw of the adhv .w npplving whims vwl. fmxiliiii'y umn' 1 i lunhing; if?. th@ left 'simil @mi if the mmhiiw in Fig'. l. Vigil. if, :i wctimml View ffii" thw. wenn when ,whsntizilly on thex line -i--\ (it Fig. l.. Fig. 5, isf i'. siictiunsil 'Vian' tnhvn sub' nmialif un Mw Eine i--w Ot' Fifi. i?. shmvi tlm :infimhlingf turf-vut und 1. ruolma im* tia? zii-ain conveyor chains. Fig. (3, a sectimml viiiw of' the punch mechanism which guts thc hesive medium and Supplies it to thiv tins..

tional view of one of the assembling punches, taken substantially on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail: The numeral l0 designates the assembling device, 11 the main conveyer, 12 the auXiliary conveyor, 13 the adhesive supplying means and 14 the cork supplying means.

The assembling device is in the form of a turret having a series of assembling punches 15 which are guided between the upper and loWer plates 16 and 17 and serve to drive the cork down through the guide passages 18 into the tins 19 seated in the pockets Q0 in line with such guide passages. The guide passages 18 and pockets 2O are here formed in a plate 2l fast' on the turret shaft 22, below7 the lower guide plate 17 and the tins when in the pockets are supported upon the bed plate '.23 which forms the bottom member of the turret. v The turret is rotated with an intermittent step by step movement so as to bring the pockets successively into line with the point at which the `tins are supplied, by means ot a feed pawl 24 carried by the vibrating lever .25 and held by a spring 26 in engagement with a ratchet 27 on the underside of the bed plate 23. The vibrating lever which actuates the feed pawl is shown mounted on a pivot 28 and operated by a cam 29 on the end of theniain drive shaft. the said cam having a cam groove 3() in which engages a roller 31 carried by the end of thc lever.

The assembling punches are operated in the present instance by springs 32, which force the punches downward, and a relatively stationary cam 33 which serves to lift the punches. The punches carry rolls S4 which in the rotation of thr turret, ride up thc incline of the cam thereby lifting the punches. and the cani terminates abruptly at its highest point 35S, as indicated in Fig. 5 so as to suddenly release the punches and permit them to dran donn and drive the corks into the tins. The cani may be made 'with a depression 3G to receive one of the rolls 3l which thus prevents backward rotation of the turret. In addition to this I have shown a dog il? which drops in beliid the ratchet teeth and thus serves to positively lock the turret against backward mm ement.

The main coiiveyer in the present disclosure is in the form of a pair of endless conveyer chains 38 spaced apart in parallel relation (see Figs. 5 and 7,) to provide an opening Si) therebetween for the burner 40 to discharge np through. The upper runs of the chains extend as shown in Fie'. Q from a point adjacent the adhesive supplying means to a point adjacent@ the edge ot the bed plate of the turret.' The chains are driven from the main drive shaftt 41 of the machine through the interinediacy of gears 42,

43 and sprocket 44 and the upper runs of the chains are supported practically flush With the surface of the bed 45 of the machine by the two end sprockets 46 and the intermediate guide rolls 47. The lovfer sides of the chains pass over guide sprockets 48 and over a loose roll 49 which roll keeps the chains from rubbing against the main drive sha it 4l.

A guideu'ay is usually provided to direct the tins and prevent them from sliding olf the conveyer. r[his guideway is designated i 5() and as shown in F ig. 7 it forms in ei'ect a passageway above the conveyer, with the conveyor forming a bottom to such passageu'ay. In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 7 this guiding passage is made with an open channel 51 in the bottom of the saine to rcceive the conveyor chains and the burner. and the chains are supported in the channel by mounting the chains supportingr rolls 4T on the opposite Walls which torni the two sides to the channel.

T he gearing for the convcyer is proportioned to operate the conveyer at a rate of feed greater than the speed at which the assembling device operating'upcn the tins. ln this Way the tins are speeded up on their Way to the assembling device. This causes a number of the tins to accumulate just -in front ot the assembling device, as indicated in Fig. E2. so that just as quick as one of the pockets in the assembling device comes into register with the conveyer, the foremost tin is pushed on into the pocket without. any loss of time,

The auxiliary conveyer for supplying the tins to the main conveyer, indicated at l2', is disposed at a right angle to the inain conveyor and is arranged to convey the tins from a rotating table 54 or other source of supply to a point adjacent to the end of the main conveyer. This auxiliary conveyor is in the present instance merely an endless belt which passes Jfrom a driving pulley 55 over two idler pulleys 56 and 5T which as shown in Fig. 3 define the active upper reach of the belt. Driving pulley is carried by an auxiliary drive shaft 58 disposed at a right angle to the main shaft and operated from the main shaft through bevel gears 59 and GO.

The means for supplying the adhesive for sticking the corks in the tins is according to the present disclosure located at a station intermediate of the auxiliary and main conveyer, and substantially at the angle of .intersection ot the planes of these two angularly disposed conveyors. Also a single intermittently acting device is emploved to transfer tins from the auxiliary conveyer to the adhesive supplying means and from this means out onto the main conveyor. The a...liesive supplying means is here shownA as a punch 61 which strikes 1,131 ,sus

disks or eollets 62 out oi s. of gire` pared einer supplied freni 1 5l. This pa 'er ouder the inuence or near.- becomes so t :und sticky.v 'Fig 4 shows how the punch strikes out e piece of the fusible ad hesive medium and by this seme action deposits the adhesive medium in the tin then beneath the punchA The punch is usually made with n yielding stripping member 65 which first yields as it contacts the strip of paper'nnd then the paper is cut, .forces the cut section out of the die 6G ef the punch down into` the tin. Vsfheu beneath punch the tins rest upon o table 67 which may he e part of the hed of the machine or else be mnd-e sepnr' ie part, shown. in Figi... und The 'feeding ci the tape to the punch is here eli'ected oy u pair ol positively driven friction rolls 68 and (it which are operated troni the auxiliary drive sltnft through sprocket i0, chain 71, sprocket 7&3 and u pinion 73 which rotates with said sprocket and engages e gear 74:

- on the lower feed. roll.

therein, 'into winch the roller on the plun ger drops und thus causes the punch to de p iliury con scend and strike out a section hesive medium.

The transferring device is indicated at 82 in the form of a. pusher .carried by a rod 83' which .is .slidably engaged in' bearings 84 and is reciprocated by a cem 85011 the main drive shaft, the rod for this purpose carrying n 'cani roll 86 which beurs against said 'cani and a spring 8" being provided to cause the roll to fo low the cum. The pusher is shown provided with an extension or linger 88 which serves as a stop to lirnit the forward feed of the tins on the auxiliary conveyer nnd with a pocket 89 to receive and center each tin taken by it. The stroke of this reciprocating pusher is Sullicient to carry the foremost tin on the auxer over to upoint beneath the adhesive supplyingr meuns und the movement thus imparted to this tin causes it vto push the tin which has just received n charge of the adhesive, from beneath the adhesivo sulplying means, out onto .the main conveyer. This transferring device Operates at n. rete of feed substantially equivalent to the rute ut `which the usseinbling device is oi'iereing upon the tins so that never more than the requisite number of tins will be f to the assembling device, und the conveY operating; us it does at a higher rete of leed than this advances the tins fester then they can be taken by the assembling device so that the .tins are hunched together in front of the assembling device in readiness to be fed into the pockets jus-- as fast as the pockets are brought into line with the conveyer.

The rotating feed table is shown oper ted from the auxiliary drive shaft through the medium of a pulley 90 en that shaft, belt 91., and pulley 92 on the shaft 93 which carries the said table, and the tins are conducted from the table onto the auxiliary eonveyer thrfc'fugh e guide channel 9i. Figs. 1 sind 3 show how the rotary feed table is disposed at one. side of the auxiliary drive shaft and the tape feeding rolls nt the other side of the sha-ft- :ind how these devices are driven from said shaft by driving connections extending in opposite directions from the shaft. T his arrangement provides u very compact and efficient form of drive.

The vcork supplying means indicated in u general Way by the reference numeral 14, here consiss of av tube 95 ada ted to receive a quantity of the sealin dis ys or corks as they are usually calle and :i reciprocating slide 96, which as indicated in Fig, 2 serves to strip the lovvermost cork from beneiith the tube andi push it' through the chute 9'? out. over the guide passage 18. This cork supplying means is operated by the suine cum (29) which serves to rotate the turret, the vibrating lover 5 being for the purpose provided* with an angular extension or arm 98 having e slotted connecL tion 99 with the slide 96. A

To .insure s more positive sticking of the corks in the tins, means are usually provided forepplying additional ressure tothe es# sembling punches just e .ter'tliey drive the corks into the tins. T his means is illustrated in the present instance es a rocking lever 100 pivoted at 101 and having a cam surface 102 arranged to beer .down upon the cem rolls 34 of the punches. This pressing device is in the present instance operated also by the cam 29, the vibrating lever 25 being for this purpose supplied with an erin 103 having a slotted connection 104C with the rocking lever 100. turret are cusioned by yielding stop 105, which as shown in Fig. 5 is carried by the lever L00 in position to engaged by. the cern rolls 34 of the punches. This stop is rocked upwardly to permit the cam roll of the foremost assembling punch to drop o5 the high point of the cani and then it.is rocked in the reverse direction to cause the cam surface 102, to press down upon the top of the cam roll and thereby press the cork which has just been seated in the tin fill the more firmly in 'engagement with the tin. A L

The full operation of the machine-is as fcllowsz-The tins placed upon the rotating The intermittent movements of thetable 54: are fed by this table through the guide channel 94 out onto the auxiliary conveyer 12 and this conveyer carries the tins up to a point at one side of the adhesive supplying means. 'lhe pusher then acts to transfer the foremost tin on the auxiliary conveyer over to a point beneath the punch which supplies the adhesive medium and this tin pushes the tin preceding it from beneath the punch out onto the main conveyer. The punch descends and deposits a charge of the adhesive Ain the tin and the pusher on its next stroke causes the tin next in rear of the tin under consideration to push this adhesive-charged tin from beneath the punch out onto the main conveyor. This conveyor travelingr at a relatively high rate of feed picks up the. charged tin and feeds it at accelerated speed up into engagement with the tins in advance of it (see liig. 2). During this travel on tho main conveyor the tin is heated by the burner which discharges its heat up between the conveyor chains and the fusible adhesive medium in the tin is thereby softened and made sticky. As the turret turns one step another one ot the pockets 20 is brought into l; ie with the main conveyor and this conveyor running continuously as it docs arts to push the foremost of the hunched tins oli' the conveyor and into the pocket. At about this same time the cork supplying means 'feeds oil one of the sealing disks into the top of the. guide passage 1S and then as the turret is fed another Step the cam roll 34 rides oil the peak ot. the cam 33 and the assembling punch descends and drives the cork intoflirm engagement with the fused adhesive medium in the tin. The pressing device now acts and by' pushing down upon thc assembling punch it serves to press the. cork all the more lirrnlv and positively to its seat in the tin. The spring-pressed assembling punch holds the assembled cap under pressure during the rotation of the turret and this gives the adhesive an opportunity to set and harden. Then when in the rotation of the turret the camrolls 34- strilre the low end 107 of the stationary cam 33, the punches are lifted and the now permanently assembled cap is freed from pressure. The com piet-ed caps are now discharged from the assembling turret, Such discharge being,r accomplished in the present instance by a stripper linger 108, which as shown in Figs. 1 and 8 projects into the undercut portion 109 of the pockets and dellects the tins outward so that they fall down through an open I 11'() in the hed of the machine onto a discharge conveyor 111.

Il v the machine of this invention the caps are assembled and permanentlj. united wholly automatically and 'at a very rapid rate. T he terms which I have used in de Lzcribing the invention are to be understood as terms of description rather than of'lirni tation except asmay be requiredfbyv the prior art. A n advantage possessed by my invention over previous machines for this purpose is that the cork is not placed in the tin until after the heated tin has been en tirely removed from the heating means. rlhis prevents the corks from being injured by the heat and as the tins cool oil' more rapidly when separated and removed from the heating` means the corks will adhere i Sooner and hence the pressure employed in assembling does not have to be maintained for so long a time when applied as herein set forth.

Upon starting the machine the Amain convever is usually first cha-r ed or loaded with tins. During this perio of charging the conveyer the assembling turret should be rendered inoperative so es not to carry off the ltins as fast as they are placed on the conveyer. I have provided a. means for this purpose in the illustration in the shape of an eccentric 114, arranged when operated by the handle 115 to throwthe turret driving pawl 24 out of en agement with its ratchet 27. The feed cfgcorks during this preliminary charging operation should also sie.V

be stopped and this I have provided for by a hold-up finger 120 which when swung around its pivot 121 down into its lowermost position serves to support the llowermost cork and prevent feeding of the perks. A fter the proper number of tins have been fed out onto the main conveyor the turret feeding means and the cork supplying means a re rendered operative and the machine commences to operate 1n the manner-descrlbed. v

l'Vhat I claim is 1. In a bottlecap assembling machine, the combination with an assemblin vturret pro vided with pockets in the perip ery thereof to receive the tins, a, substantially horizontally disposed conveyor passage extending in.

a straight line to the peripheral portion of Y the assembling turret, an endless hain'conveyer supported in the conveyer passage with the upper run thereof extenalng'up'to a point adjacent the periphery of the nsseinbling turret and dis iosed substantially in the horizontal plane ol the pockets in the assembling turret, means for supplying tins to the end of the chain conveyor farthest removed from the assembling turret, vmeans operating said conveyor to carry the tins supplied thereto positively and in a short` bination of'conveying means arranged to the conveying means whereby to cause the 10 feed a plurality of tins, means for operating conveying means to accumulate a plurality said conveying means, an assembling device of the tins and means for interrupting the arranged to take the tinsfadvanced by the supply of the corks.

conve in means, means or operatin the 1 device, means for suppyng 'I' C' FORRLSTER corks to the tins, means for interrupting the Witnesses:

operation of the assembling device to pre- Rom'. S. ALLL.,

vent said device from taking the tins from PHILIP S, MCLEAN. 

